ISBN 978-0988439047 

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"Vincent's poignant decision to donate Maya's organs will resonate with even hard-boiled readers." ~Booklist 

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"Powerful prose with a meaningful and memorable message." ~Lee Gutkind, Founder, Creative Nonfiction Magazine 

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"An important addition to the literature of loss and restoration." ~Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author of Inside the Halo and Beyond: The Anatomy of a Recovery 

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"Heartbreaking and heart healing, this compelling story of surviving the death of a child will stay with you long after you've closed the book." ~Ellen Bass, author of The Courage to Heal and The Human Line 

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Swimming with Maya demonstrates the remarkable process of healing after the traumatic death of a loved one. Eleanor Vincent raised her two daughters, Maya and Meghan, virtually as a single-parent. Maya, the eldest, was a high-spirited and gifted young woman. As a toddler, Maya was an angelic tow-head, full of life and curiosity. As a teenager, Maya was energetic and independent - and often butted heads with her mother. But Eleanor and Maya were always close and connected, like best friends or sisters, but always also mother and daughter. 

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Then at age 19, Maya mounts a horse bareback as a dare and, in a crushing cantilever fall, is left in a coma from which she will never recover. Eleanor's life is turned upside down as she struggles to make the painful decision about Maya's fate. 

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Ultimately Eleanor chooses to donate Maya's organs. Years later, she is able to hear Maya's heart beat in the chest of the heart recipient. Along the way, Eleanor re-examines her relationship with her daughter, as well as Eleanor's traumatic life as a child and young woman. In a story that has been called "heartbreaking and heart-healing," Eleanor Vincent illuminates the kind of courage, creativity, faith, and sheer tenacity it takes to find one's balance after unthinkable tragedy. 

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Praise for Swimming with Maya

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"Every reader who has had to deal with traumatic loss will find wisdom and healing in these brave pages.''~Chana Bloch, author of Mrs. Dumpty and Blood Honey 

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"Riveting, poignant, and utterly honest... It shows that one can recover from the loss of a child.'' ~Judy Tatelbaum, author of The Courage to Grieve and You Don't Have to Suffer 

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"Eleanor Vincent chronicles her grief and the healing that came with helping others." ~Carol Lin, CNN 

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"Blows the reader away with its clarity, its unstinting honesty, and the searing accuracy of its vision of the medical and emotional complexity surrounding the tragic death of a young woman. Highly recommended.'' ~John Ruark, MD, FACP, author of Dying Dignifed 

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"Thoughtful, honest and beautifully written... a fabulous story about what it means to be a mother.'' ~Wendy Lichtman, author of Blew and the Death of the Mag and Secrets, Lies and Algebra 

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"Life trumps death in this beautiful memoir." ~Linda Joy Myers, author of Don't Call Me Mother--A Daughter's Journey from Abandonment to Forgiveness and Power of Memoir